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I see there are a couple of motherboards that are listed as decent replacements. But now that it's 2009, does anyone know of any more recent boards that are suitable replacements, preferably really cheap. I mean, PCChips or MSI cheap.

I hate working on emachines in the first place and this customer would complain if his ice cream was too cold. I told him I'd give him a deal on a used computer that I've upgraded because this thing is encrusted with smoke residue and it's archaic. But he won't hear it. I'm going to make him pay for parts up front before I work on his machine, because I don't want to get stuck with the bill (yeah, he's one of those customers).

The customer has made it clear that he would rather pay for junk that works temporarily, than buy quality. I'd throw another Imperial GV 20030812 in there if they were cheap, but they still go for $80 or more.

Does anyone else have the privilege of working on this crap?

Sorry I sound so callous. It's a combination of emachines + unemployed individuals on welfare with an attitude.

You can't just replace it with any old motherboard if you expect the restore discs to work. If you don't use the emachines board, he will have to buy another OS license. The OEM OS license is tied to that machine/motherboard.

If he wants to be stubborn he will literally have to pay. His options are buy an emachines motherboard OR buy a cheaper motherboard and an OS (i'm guessing XP).

Ah, crap.

Originally Posted by Midknyte

You can't just replace it with any old motherboard if you expect the restore discs to work. If you don't use the emachines board, he will have to buy another OS license. The OEM OS license is tied to that machine/motherboard.

If he wants to be stubborn he will literally have to pay. His options are buy an emachines motherboard OR buy a cheaper motherboard and an OS (i'm guessing XP).

Thanks for the quick response. I didn't even notice there wasn't a XP COA sticker on the side of emachines. I'll let him know his options.

Actually that is not correct. If you explain to the activation specialist, because you will have to call to activate, that you are repairing a bad motherboard, they will let you use the OEM license and give the standard 10 activations. I have done this before and they are very nice about it. I'm sure they only technically can do this if you repair the old machine, but it is the most cost effective way.

If the restore disk is a standard XP one it will work. Generally for reinstalls I just use my trusty Dell SP3 CD, because if it is a dell it doesn't even ask for a key and if it is not it waits until you activate and then you type in the actual key. Other than a folder labeled "Dell", you'd never know it was a Dell CD.

The thing about those emachines is that the power supply dies and always takes the board with it. From my experience, I would almost swear that "Bestec" PSUs are engineered to do that. Any time I work on any machine that has one, I always get whoever's machine it is to buy a standard Newegg cheapie PSU, because at least when and if it goes, it most likely won't take out the board. Then I huck that Bestec on the heap of bestecs I have in my trash pile.

Well my point really was that if you use an install disk that works, (usually not hard to find) that the guys at Microsoft are really good about helping you get the machine restored with a new motherboard.

If you think about it, it makes perfect sense too. They would rather have you using their product than going to Linux or something like that.

Well my point really was that if you use an install disk that works, (usually not hard to find) that the guys at Microsoft are really good about helping you get the machine restored with a new motherboard.

If you think about it, it makes perfect sense too. They would rather have you using their product than going to Linux or something like that.

Hah! Been awhile since I've seen "Bob". I'm a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

I guess in my experience I haven't seen too many manufacturer's discs that work in machines of other brands. Are you saying that I could use another manufacturer's disc to get Windows on to the machine, then using a the MS key change util to change my key to the OEM key that will fail.. Then calling to activate and them having sympathy? (I have gotten them to activate some stuff by phone that I never thought they would)

I'm just trying to understand what you're saying, I may be missing the point altogether.

A Dell CD will install on any machine, just like a normal windows CD, except that it will not ask for a key, but when you go to activate, it will detect a non Dell BIOS, and tell you the key is invalid. So just plug in the key on the sticker and try to activate. Most times you will have to go through all the steps on the phone until you talk to a MS rep, but they will activate it for you and give you the standard number of activations for that key. I just downloaded a Dell CD with Service Pack three that I use for installs, rather than using my SP1 CD and installing the service packs on top. It works beautifully. They are totally cool about helping since you are repairing the machine, and so far as I know there is no legality regarding what CD you use to install it with.

I reinstall Windows XP Home and Pro quite often, almost daily. I use retail discs. When I started doing this, I was requiring that the customers order restore discs if they didn't have theirs. This proved to be a major pain, because it would set me back at least a week. Now I use my own retail discs which work much better because I don't get a lot of the preloaded dell/hp/etc.. junk that they install and I download what I need from the appropriate support site. I use the key off of the COA and it works great most of the time. Once in awhile I have to call in and talk to a machine to activate and in rare instances I have to talk to a person if the automated process doesn't work. (I've been doing this for over a year and haven't had a WGA problem yet.)

This wouldn't be a problem if there was a COA sticker. My problem is there isn't one. So it looks like I'll have to use emachines restore discs.

Well you worked it out anyway. I just use the Dell disk for the sole reason that it has all the way up to service pack 3 on it. That way I am not having to put two, then three on, not a big deal, but it saves me time. I also like the Dell CDs because there is no extra stuff on it, just XP in whatever flavor. I have the retail disks but they are service pack none and service pack 1, so it works out to a crap load of updating, and besides, I have the disks, but I am not sure where.....

And it's funny because I have talked to Microsoft reps more times than I can count when the machine could not activate, and never had any trouble. They were also foreigners, but I suppose I was lucky because they were all very fluent in English.

Well you worked it out anyway. I just use the Dell disk for the sole reason that it has all the way up to service pack 3 on it. That way I am not having to put two, then three on, not a big deal, but it saves me time. I also like the Dell CDs because there is no extra stuff on it, just XP in whatever flavor. I have the retail disks but they are service pack none and service pack 1, so it works out to a crap load of updating, and besides, I have the disks, but I am not sure where.....

And it's funny because I have talked to Microsoft reps more times than I can count when the machine could not activate, and never had any trouble. They were also foreigners, but I suppose I was lucky because they were all very fluent in English.

You could slipstream Service Pack 3 on and pretty much be done with it from an updating standpoint. Have you tried it? It is really not hard at all, using nLite.